1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a child's stroller which is easily folded into a compact shape.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of folding strollers for children are known. In a first type, as described in French patent 1 507 446 (MACLAREN), the frame of the stroller folds into a bundle which means that the folded stroller is bundled into a space whose overall transverse size is relatively small and which can thereafter be manipulated and transported like a cane. In the folded position the front wheels of the stroller are side by side, as are the rear wheels, and the set of front wheels and the set of rear wheels are as far apart as possible. Folding the stroller increases distance between the front and rear wheels, this increase in the lengthwise dimension being a consequence of the mode of folding and the relative reduction in the thickness of the folded bundle.
Folding in this manner has a number of advantages but increases the lengthwise overall dimension of the folded stroller. Also, the ends of the push bars, which usually have handles in place of a handlebar in the unfolded position of the stroller, are very near the rear wheels of the stroller when folded with the result that the person transporting the folded stroller may get dirty from contact with these wheels.
In another type of folding stroller shown in French patent 2 607 770 (AMPAFRANCE), for example, the chassis comprises two lateral chassis units which can be folded in respective substantially vertical planes and are linked transversely by rigid spacer members which may include a transverse handlebar which does not fold and the axles of the front and rear wheels. The stroller is folded flat by sliding push bars carrying the handlebar along a front underframe of the stroller. In one embodiment shown in this prior art document the front and rear wheels of the stroller when folded are close together although the wheels of each pair are still far apart because the transverse axle does not fold. Because the push bars carrying the handlebar slide in this way, the overall lengthwise dimension of the stroller is very small when folded flat. What is more, the wheels are all at substantially the same position at the opposite end from the handlebar in the folded position so that transporting the folded stroller does not involve any risk of getting dirty from contact with the wheels. However, this method of folding has the drawback that the folded stroller occupies a relatively large area, by the very fact of being folded flat, the width of the folded stroller being exactly the same as the width of the unfolded stroller.
An object of the present invention is to provide a folding child's stroller which folds more compactly than prior art strollers in a particularly simple way.